Children participate in the “Vote for the Tiger” festival, held recently at MP Birla Foundation Higher Secondary School. Picture by Sayantan Ghosh

Now it’s time to vote for the tiger. Students of 30 schools assembled at MP Birla Foundation Higher Secondary School recently to participate in a festival — “Vote for the Tiger” — organised by Sanctuary Kids for Tigers.

This national programme educates children on tiger conservation, biodiversity and the environment. “Through this programme, we hope to change the way a generation thinks by 2030. We plan to revive our planet and its endangered species,” said Bittu Sahgal, the editor of the magazine Sanctuary Asia.

Students expressed their solidarity for the cause through songs and skits. “This is a fest of a different sort. Here, through entertainment, we are trying to generate awareness about our wildlife, especially tigers,” said Class VIII student Jmiksha Chopra of Modern High School, who along with her friends, sang a song.

Participating schools included South City International, Birla High for Boys and Girls, Vivekananda Mission School and Mahadevi Birla Girls’ Higher Secondary School.

A poster-drawing competition got students exploring their artistic skills. Some coined interesting slogans, like “Save the tiger and it will save you tomorrow”, and “If I am dead, you are dead”. Visitors and students could also pen their pro-tiger thoughts on a notice board.

Kids for Tigers has 54 schools registered in Calcutta and 48 in the Sunderbans. It conducts nature camps, holds film and slide shows throughout the year to educate students and teachers through entertainment.

“With increasing global warming and deforestation, the need to protect the environment has become a priority. The group targeted the children because in the process, parents can be alerted. If I see my child either doing or not doing something, I will try to follow it as well,” said Herbert George, the principal of MP Birla Foundation.

In its 16th year of the annual event, Joydip Kundu, the coordinator of the eastern India chapter of Kids for Tigers, said: “The awareness level among students has gone up. More and more children are starting nature clubs in their schools. They also put up tiger and wildlife notice boards with news of what’s happening around the world.”

Get set and write it right

Sneha Prasad

Children at the handwriting competition at Crossword Kankurgachhi. Picture by Sayantan Ghosh

As part of their summer fest, Crossword, in association with TTIS, organised a handwriting competition for children between nine and 12 years old at their bookstore in Kankurgachhi on May 18.

The children were asked to copy a passage from a photocopied sheet distributed to each of them.

“We had given the children blank sheets to see how they maintained a proper line while writing,” said Minandu Mondal, a business officer of Luxor Parker, the sponsors of the programme.

The participants were given 15 minutes to write. At the end, Srishti Bagaria was judged the winner. She was given a gift set of Luxor sketch pens. “I like taking part in new activities. It makes me happy,” said the proud winner.

As for nine-year-old Rajul Surana, she hit on a new way of spending her summer holiday.

“When I am not playing, I am going to use my spare time to improve my handwriting,” she said.

A child’s handwriting can also affect his performance in class, claimed schoolteacher Mayurakshi Mitra, who had accompanied her 10 year-old son, Anneshan, to the competition.

“Even if a child performs well in academics, his poor handwriting can cost him valuable marks. A good hand at writing attracts attention,” she added.